On the first day of 59th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference, due to non-arrival of Smt. Meira Kumar Ji, Hon'ble Speaker of Lok Sabha owing to the ensuing Lok Sabha Session, in the presence of all the Hon'ble Speakers of Legislative Assemblies of India participating in the Conference, Shri Kuldeep Sharma, Hon'ble Speaker of Haryana Vidhan Sabha proposed the name of Dr. Charnjit Singh Atwal, former Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha and Hon'ble Speaker of Punjab Legislative Assembly as Leader of the Indian Delegation where Shri Varinder Gupta, Indian High Commissioner in South Africa and Shri Randhir Kufmar Jaiswal, Consul-General of India at Johannesburg were also present. Shri Kagodu Themappa, Hon'ble Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Shri Uday Narayan Chaudhary, Hon'ble Speaker of Bihar Vidhan Sabha seconded the proposal and Dr. Atwal was unanimously elected as the Leader of Indian Delegation to represent India.
On this occasion, the Hon'ble Speaker of all the Legislative Assemblies and Chairmen of Legislative Councils of India were present and while congratulating Hon'ble Dr. Atwal, Shri Varinder Gupta, Indian High Commissioner in South Africa and others said that earlier also Dr. Atwal has brought laurel to the nation and Punjab State on a number of occasions while representing India on international levels as the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha.